Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has admitted he is proud of his young stars after their 2-1 defeat to Liverpool, saying that the future is bright at the Etihad.

City fielded a youthful side against the Reds during their International Champions Cup game, and opened the scoring just before the hour mark when substitute Leroy Sane struck. That lead didn’t last for long though, with Mo Salah equalising just 10 minutes later, before a last minute Sadio Mane penalty sealed the victory for the Reds.

But despite the defeat, City’s youngsters put in an extremely mature display against an experienced Liverpool side, and Guardiola was full of praise for his players.

“It is incredible, what we have done,” the Spaniard said. “For 75 minutes, it was incredible what we did with the players we have against that team – finalists of the Champions League, who have amazing players.

“Our personality was incredible. The average age of our players in the first half was very young. I am so proud and I am so happy to be manager of these guys for that reason.

“For the last 15 minutes, we were so tired. We made some changes and in the last few minutes, Liverpool deserved to score goals.”

The boss also spoke about how having 16 players at this summer’s World Cup is a good sign for the club, saying that the future is bright at City.

“We are happy as a club to have had 16 players at the World Cup with their national teams. It’s a good sign for the club. In the past, that didn’t happen.

“We are going to adapt and see which players we will have available against Chelsea and what conditions they will be in. We’ll see.

“We are late (returning) – we know that – but we must play as we did (against Liverpool), with the spirit we showed against an amazing team.

“The young players will never forget that experience and for the future, it’s so good.”
[Quotes sourced from the official Manchester City website]